How to Reset the Pinterest Algorithm

Is your Pinterest home feed feeling a little… off? Instead of getting fresh ideas for your next marketing campaign or home project, you might be seeing remnants of a trip you planned years ago or hobbies you've long since abandoned. You’re not stuck with it. This guide will walk you through the exact steps to clean up your account, retrain the algorithm, and turn your Pinterest feed back into a powerful tool for inspiration and growth.

First, How Does the Pinterest Algorithm Even Work?

Before you can change what the algorithm shows you, it helps to understand its goal. At its heart, Pinterest is a visual discovery engine. Its algorithm is designed to do one thing: keep you on the platform longer by showing you content (Pins) it thinks you’ll find interesting and useful.

It learns what you like by watching everything you do:

• Your searches: The keywords you use are a massive signal.
• The Pins you save: This is you telling Pinterest, "Yes, more of this, please!"
• The boards you create: Board titles and descriptions tell the algorithm the categories you’re interested in.
• The Pins you click on: Even if you don’t save it, a click indicates interest.
• Who you follow: Following other creators gives Pinterest clues about your niche and aesthetics.
• Your own Pins: The content you upload to your own boards teaches the algorithm what you specialize in.

Over time, these signals create an interest profile that dictates what populates your home feed. Resetting the algorithm is simply the process of updating that profile by consciously removing old, irrelevant signals and replacing them with strong, new, focused ones.

Part 1: The Pinterest Content Cleanse

The first step is to stop sending mixed signals. You have to remove the old information that’s confusing the algorithm. This content cleanse is like weeding a garden before planting new seeds, it gives your efforts a clean slate to work from.

1. Audit and Archive Irrelevant Boards

Those old boards from past projects or hobbies are constantly feeding the algorithm outdated information. If you're now a small business coach, a board filled with "Dream Wedding Dresses" from five years ago is working against you.

However, deleting boards isn't always the best move, as you can lose followers and engaged Pins associated with them. Archiving is a much better solution. It removes the board and its Pins from your public profile and stops them from influencing your recommendations, but preserves your data.

How to archive a board:

1. Go to your Pinterest profile and find the board you want to archive.
2. Click the three dots (...) on the board cover.
3. Select "Archive" from the dropdown menu.

Go through all your boards and archive anything that doesn't align with what you want to see and be known for on Pinterest moving forward. Be ruthless. That old "DIY Dorm Room Ideas" board from college? Archive it. The recipes you’ve never made? Archive it.

2. Scan Your Boards and Delete Off-Topic Pins

Even on your relevant boards, you might have some Pins that drifted off-topic. Maybe your “Brand Design Inspiration” board has a few infographics on productivity or some recipes you saved on a whim. Each of those Pins is a data point.

Take five minutes to scroll through your most important boards. When you spot a Pin that doesn't quite fit the theme, delete it from that board. This "pruning" sends a clear signal to Pinterest that you’re curating your topics with more focus and refines the algorithm's understanding of what that board is truly about.

3. Review Your Recent Pin Activity

Your activity feed shows a log of every Pin you’ve engaged with or saved. It’s a great place to spot accidental signals you've been sending. Maybe you clicked through a Pin about celebrity fashion that led down a rabbit hole. Now, the algorithm thinks you're interested in that topic.

Go to your profile page. You'll see a collection of all your created and saved Pins. Scroll through your most recent activity and undo any saves on topics you don't want to see anymore. This helps correct any recent "wrong turns" you might have taken in your Pinning sessions.

Part 2: Actively Retrain Your Pinterest Feed

Once you’ve cleaned up the past, it’s time to be proactive. In this phase, you are going to intentionally feed the algorithm strong, repetitive signals about the exact content you want in your feed.

1. Search Like You Mean It

Vague searches get vague results. The more specific you are, the faster the algorithm learns. Don’t just search for "logo design." Get specific with what you’re truly looking for:

• "minimalist serif font logo design"
• "luxury packaging design inspiration"
• "social media marketing statistics 2024"
• "vegetarian high-protein meal prep"

Perform 5-10 hyper-specific searches for your core topics. More importantly, don't just search and leave. Scroll through the results and save 3-5 of the best Pins from each search to a highly relevant board. This action is one of the strongest signals you can send - it confirms that the search results were not only relevant, but also valuable to you.

2. Use the "More Ideas" Feature Effectively

When you find a Pin that is exactly the type of content you want, Pinterest gives you a tool to find more just like it. Click on that perfect Pin to view it up close. Then, scroll down.

You’ll discover a section labeled "More like this." This is a goldmine. Pinterest’s visual AI has already identified similar aesthetics and topics. Spend some time exploring this section and save a few more Pins that align with your goal. You're effectively telling the algorithm, "You got this one right, now show me more."

3. Actively Curate Your Home Feed

Your home feed is your primary training ground. Every time you open Pinterest, you have the opportunity to give the algorithm direct feedback. For the next few days, make it a habit to actively curate what appears.

When you see a Pin that has nothing to do with your interests, don't just scroll past it. Hide it.

Here’s how to tune your home feed:

1. Find a Pin on your home feed that you don't like.
2. Click the three dots (...) at the bottom-right of the Pin.
3. Select "Hide Pin."
4. A menu will pop up asking for a reason. Choose something like "Not relevant for me."

Doing this just 10-20 times over a couple of days can cause a dramatic shift in your recommendations. You're actively removing unwanted categories from your interest profile in real-time.

4. Follow the Right People and Boards

Search for top creators, brands, and influencers in your desired niche and follow their main account. This tells the algorithm you’re interested in their overall domain of expertise. Take it a step further by seeking out and following specific, highly-curated boards that are laser-focused on your topics. For example, instead of just following a generic marketing agency, find and follow their board specifically dedicated to “Email Marketing Strategy.” This adds another layer of specific, positive data to your profile.

Part 3: Fine-Tuning and Long-Term Maintenance

You've done the deep cleaning and the active retraining. Now, here are a few final tricks to lock in your changes and keep your feed fresh for the long haul.

A Little-Known Trick: Tweak Your Ad Interests

Pinterest builds a profile of your inferred interests to serve you relevant ads. This data also subtly influences your organic recommendations. You can actually see and edit this profile directly.

1. Go to your Pinterest Settings.
2. Click on "Privacy and data."
3. Scroll down and find the section labeled "Your inferred interests for ads" and expand it.
4. You'll see a list of topics Pinterest thinks you're interested in. Systematically go through and untick the checkbox for every single interest that is irrelevant to you.

This is one of the most direct ways to tell Pinterest, "Stop showing me content about these topics." It's a powerful and often-overlooked step in an algorithm reset.

Be Consistent: Your Everyday Actions Matter Most

A true algorithm "reset" isn't a single event, it's the result of new habits. The biggest factor influencing your feed is your day-to-day behavior. For the next week, be incredibly intentional every time you open the app. Only search for relevant topics. Only save on-brand Pins. Aggressively hide what you don’t want to see.

Your Pinterest feed is a reflection of your actions. By changing those actions consciously, you can shape it into precisely the tool you need it to be - a place for focused, relevant inspiration that fuels your creativity and helps you achieve your goals.

Final Thoughts

Retraining your Pinterest algorithm is entirely within your control. It comes down to a simple, two-part strategy: first, clean up the old, irrelevant signals from your past activity, and second, intentionally create new, highly-focused signals through your searches, saves, and interactions. A little bit of consistent effort goes a long way.

Of course, the best long-term strategy for keeping the algorithm on your side is to maintain a consistent pinning schedule with relevant, high-quality content that serves your audience. We've seen how frustrating it can be to wrestle with tools that make consistency feel like a chore, which is why we built Postbase. Our visual calendar lets you plan and schedule your Pins weeks ahead, so you can build a strong, on-brand presence that continuously teaches the algorithm what your content is all about - without the daily stress.